Former Army soldier sentenced for killing wife, baby

ANCHORAGE (Reuters) - A former Army soldier who was convicted of killing his wife and baby daughter shortly after returning from combat in Afghanistan was sentenced on Friday to 80 years in prison for the crimes.

Kip Lynch, 22, was found guilty last summer of first degree murder in the April 2010 shooting death of his 19-year-old wife Racquell and second-degree murder of their 8-month old baby, Kyirsta.

Lynch shot his wife numerous times in the back, head and neck while she was holding their infant daughter, according to police reports.

The bullets passed through her body, killing both mother and child, according to police reports. Lynch then turned the gun on himself in an apparent suicide attempt, but survived.

The bodies of his wife and baby remained in the family's Anchorage apartment for a weekend before they were discovered.

Lynch was found in critical condition but recovered.

At the two-day sentencing hearing at a state superior court, Lynch's public defender said the former soldier had served valiantly in combat but struggled with post traumatic stress upon returning home.

Lynch was stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage at the time of the incident, which occurred just two months after he returned from a year-long deployment to Afghanistan.

Judge Michael Spaan, who imposed the sentence, concluded that Lynch's combat experience affected the former military policeman's actions.

"I believe that Mr. Lynch's service in Afghanistan was a factor," Spaan said.

But Spaan said it was unclear whether the shooting was a direct result of war-related mental problems.

"I don't even know if you had post traumatic stress, if you're still suffering from it, and what impact this might have in 20 years. The science is not exact enough to answer these questions," the judge told Lynch at sentencing.

The mother of Racquell Lynch testified by telephone at the hearing, asking for a harsh sentence.

"I accept full responsibility for what happened to my wife and daughter," Lynch said in court, reading from a statement of apology. "They will forever be in my heart."

The maximum penalty that could have been imposed on Lynch was 198 years, 99 years for each murder, under Alaska law.

(Editing by Mary Slosson and Peter Bohan)

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Chinese gets 15 years for killing NZ taxi driver (AP)

SHANGHAI – A Shanghai court sentenced a Chinese man who admitted killing a New Zealand taxi driver before fleeing to his homeland to 15 years in prison Wednesday.

Shanghai's Second Intermediate Court handed down the sentence, citing Xiao Zhen's remorse over the killing as a reason for not imposing a harsher sentence.

The 24-year-old Xiao was arrested last year in China for the alleged murder of Auckland taxi driver Hiren Mohini, 39, in January 2010. He was tried in Shanghai because China and New Zealand do not have an extradition treaty.

The judge who read out the sentence did not make any further comment. Xiao was convicted not of murder but of the Chinese crime that can be translated into English as "intentional assault."

New Zealand police officer Hywel Jones, who attended but did not speak at the trial, said the verdict was "fair" and that he intended to return to New Zealand.

Xiao's aunt, Li Liping, said the family did not expect him to appeal the sentence.

"He should be punished," she said. "It is our fault that we did not teach him well."

New Zealand media reported the government was promised Xiao would not face the death penalty if convicted.

China by law does not extradite its citizens and says it can put them on trial itself regardless of where a crime occurred. The number of such cases should rise as more Chinese citizens travel and live outside the country, opening the door to legal complications.

Cooperation from foreign countries opposed to capital punishment in such cases, for example in providing evidence, often depends on whether authorities promise not to apply the death penalty — which is more often used in China than anywhere else.

___

Researcher Fu Ting contributed.

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Lebanon bloc urges arrests in Hariri killing (AP)

BEIRUT – Lebanon's pro-Western political faction has called on the government to respect an international tribunal calling for the arrest of four Hezbollah members in the assassination of a former prime minister.

Hezbollah's leader denies his group had any role in Rafik Harri's 2005 killing and has vowed to protect suspects from arrest.

But the pro-Western bloc known as March 14 said in a statement late Sunday that Hezbollah is holding the country hostage by making it choose between justice and stability.

The Cabinet is packed with Hezbollah allies, so there is little enthusiasm within the current leadership to press forward with the case.

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Hezbollah blames Israel for Hariri killing

Hezbollah's Nasrallah: "No one is allowed to investigate Israel"Four Hezbollah members were indicted in connection with the killing, a source told CNNNasrallah says the court's goal is to sow Sunni-Shiite division

(CNN) -- Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah repeated his stance that Israel was behind the killing of Lebanon's former prime minister six years ago and slammed the U.N.-backed court for sowing discord in Lebanon.

"The tribunal was established for an obvious political goal, and no one is allowed to investigate Israel," he said on Lebanese TV Saturday, explaining his position on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's indictments in connection with the 2005 attack, which left Rafik Hariri and 22 others dead.

"Instead of investigating with Israel, they cooperated with Israel."

The tribunal submitted to Lebanese authorities a sealed indictment and arrest warrants this week for an unknown number of suspects. A highly placed source in the Lebanese Army told CNN the four include Mustafa Badreddine, Hasan Oneisa, Salim Ayyah and Asad Sabra -- all Hezbollah members.

Many Lebanese believe the killing revolved around the controversies over Syria's role in Lebanon, occupied at the time by Syrian troops, and the Damascus government's strong political influence in Lebanon.

Many Lebanese believe Hariri wanted the Syrians to withdraw from Lebanon and lessen Syria's influence, and many suspect that Syria and its ally Hezbollah went after Hariri because of his stance on this issue.

Hezbollah is a Shiite political faction in Lebanon that provides social services to its constituents. It has long been regarded as a terrorist organization by the United States and as an ally of Iran.

It has had longstanding animosity toward the tribunal, based on the expectation that some of its members would be indicted as conspirators in Hariri's assassination. Nasrallah has accused the group's arch-enemy Israel of the assassination.

Nasrallah also criticized the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which issued the indictments, for sowing discord.

"We cannot cancel the tribunal because the tribunal was created by the U.N. Security Council that is ruled by the American will," he told viewers of al-Manar, the Lebanese TV station affiliated with Hezbollah.

"The most dangerous goal of this tribunal is to create strife, a civil war in Lebanon, or especially a division between the Sunni and Shiite in Lebanon."

A U.N. source familiar with the tribunal said the people indicted include alleged perpetrators on the ground.

Badreddine -- who is the brother-in-law of Imad Mughniyeh, a former Hezbollah commander who was assassinated in Syria in 2008 -- is reported to be a member of Hezbollah's advisory council.

Two additional lists of indictments are expected later this summer and are expected to include the organizers and planners of the attack, the U.N. source said.

Those suspected connections of Hezbollah and the Syrian government to the killing have raised tensions in the country, stoking fears of sectarian conflict erupting in the ethnically and religiously diverse nation, which endured a civil war from 1975 to 1990.

Syria had thousands of troops in Lebanon and great influence in the country until mass protests after Hariri's assassination, known as the Cedar Revolution, forced their withdrawal. Syria has denied any involvement in the assassination.

Another result of the anger toward the attack was the creation of the tribunal. The United Nations and the Lebanese Republic negotiated an agreement on the establishment of the body, based in the Netherlands.

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U.N.-backed court delivers Hariri killing indictments (Reuters)

BEIRUT (Reuters) – A U.N.-backed tribunal seeking the killers of statesman Rafik al-Hariri handed indictments and arrest warrants to Lebanon on Thursday that officials said accused members of the militant Hezbollah group of involvement.

The long-awaited move was hailed as a "historic moment" by Hariri's son, opposition leader Saad al-Hariri, but poses an immediate challenge to the new government of Najib Mikati whose cabinet is dominated by Hezbollah allies.

Prosecutor Saeed Mirza gave no details of the indictments. Lebanese officials said four warrants were issued for Hezbollah members including senior leader Mustafa Badreddine, who was jailed in Kuwait over a series of bombings in 1983 and is a brother-in-law of slain Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyeh.

The assassination on February 14, 2005 plunged Lebanon into a series of political crises, killings and bombings which led to sectarian clashes in May 2008, dragging the country back to the brink of civil war.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on nations to support the tribunal, a hybrid international and Lebanese court established under Chapter Seven of the U.N. charter, granting the U.N. wide powers to address violations.

But a Hezbollah television station said the indictments showed that the tribunal was politicized.

Analysts said Mikati, whose government has yet to win a confidence vote in parliament, now faces irreconcilable demands from Hariri's domestic and international allies -- who want Lebanon to comply with the court -- and the majority of his cabinet who reject any cooperation with it.

Lebanese analyst Oussama Safa said that refusal to comply would lead to Lebanon's isolation. "Now the government of Mikati has to decide what it is going to do. If it does not cooperate it risks putting Lebanon in trouble," he said.

The other three suspects were named by Lebanese officials as Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hassan Issa and Assad Sabra. It was not clear how many belonged to Hezbollah or what positions they held.

Hezbollah, both a Shi'ite Muslim political movement and guerrilla army, denies any role in the huge explosion on the Beirut seafront which killed Hariri and 22 others.

There have been fears in Lebanon that indictments of Hezbollah members over the assassination of the prominent Sunni Muslim leader, who was prime minister for several terms between 1992 and 2004, could raise sectarian tensions between factions still struggling with the legacy of its 1975-90 civil war.

Mikati urged Lebanese to be "reasonable and far-sighted" to ensure that "those who want to target the country and push us toward strife miss their chance."

Hezbollah has vowed to thwart attempts to detain any of its members and -- as the country's pre-eminent military force --could easily prevent security forces making any arrests even if the government approved them. It wants Lebanon to end cooperation with the tribunal, withdraw Lebanese judges and halt contributions to its funding.

A carefully-worded policy statement by Mikati's cabinet, which was formed just two weeks ago after months of wrangling, said on Thursday only that it "stressed the (importance of) truth in the crime against Rafik al-Hariri" and said it would monitor the progress of the court.

A senior official in Hariri's March 14 coalition, said the government must give unconditional commitment to the tribunal. "Mikati must realize that we will face any shortfall (in that commitment) with all our strength in a democratic and peaceful way," Fares Said said.

Hariri said the government had "no reason...to run away from this responsibility." In a statement issued in Paris, he said: "It is time to put an end to the episodes of killing. The era of the murderers is over and the time for justice is close."

EARLY MISHAPS

Early reports on the killing implicated Syria, which denied any involvement, before attention switched to Hezbollah.

However discredited the tribunal may be for some Lebanese, Thursday's indictments pose an early dilemma for Mikati.

If his government does not cooperate with the court "it will face a problem with the international community," said Judge Yusif Saadallah al-Khoury. "The U.N. Security Council will act under Chapter Seven and move toward taking exceptional measures of political, economic and military nature."

Lebanese authorities will have up to 30 days to inform the tribunal of the measures taken in response to the arrest warrants being issued. Arrest warrants also include an order for the "prompt transfer" of the accused to the tribunal.

If authorities fail to make arrests, the court may start putting out "Wanted" adverts. If no arrests are carried out, the tribunal can hold trials in absentia.

The indictments triggered a political crisis in Lebanon when they were submitted to the pre-trial judge in January, bringing down Hariri's national unity government when Hezbollah and its allies resigned in protest at his refusal to renounce the court.

The indictments were amended three times while the judge assessed whether there was enough evidence for a trial.

Condemnation of the 2005 killing forced neighboring Syria to end a 29-year military presence in Lebanon, but attention slowly turned to Hezbollah and last year its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said he expected members to be accused.

Hezbollah, formed under the guidance of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to fight Israeli forces that invaded Lebanon, shares the Iranian state's Shi'ite Islamist ideology.

It continues to enjoy strong moral, political and military support from Tehran and Damascus. The United States lists Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

(Additional reporting by Laila Bassam in Beirut and Aaron Gray-Block in Amsterdam; writing by Dominic Evans; editing by David Stamp)

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Al Shabaab rebels claim killing of Somalia minister (Reuters)

MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia's Al Shabaab rebels said Saturday they were behind the killing of Interior Minister Abdi Shakur Sheikh Hassan after they planted a bomb under his bed at his house in the capital Mogadishu.

An Islamist forum website carried a message saying Al Shabaab movement had taken responsibility for the killing.

"By the grace of God Almighty, the interior minister of the apostate government and its national security (interior) minister was killed in the afternoon Friday...a bomb exploded planted by the mujahideen inside the home, specifically under his bed. After the blast he was taken to hospital but nothing was left, only a rotten corpse," the message said.

Abdi Shaur, the minister's driver, had said Friday that he believed the minister was killed by a female suicide bomber, thought to be his cousin.

The attack, which caused no other casualties, was seen by analysts as a retaliatory hit by al Shabaab insurgents after a sustained government push against them, in which the minister was a key figure.

Police said they had detained two suspects from the minister's house, including a brother of the suspected suicide bomber.

Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia have witnesses two days of protests, with demonstrators railing against a deal to extend the mandates of the president and parliament.

Hundreds of supporters of the prime minister, who must resign under the terms of the deal, marched through the city's rubble-strewn streets chanting support for him.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since the overthrow of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

First clan warlords and now al Shabaab Islamist insurgents ensured the government controls little territory outside parts of the capital Mogadishu.

(Additional reporting by Gulf bureau; Writing by James Macharia)

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Trial set for Ohio man accused of killing, dismembering 11 women

Anthony Sowell faces 85 counts related to the deaths of 11 women between 2007 and 2009.Jury selection starts Monday for the trial of accused serial killer Anthony SowellHe will be tried on 85 counts for the alleged rape and murder of 11 womenPolice say the convicted sex offender killed the women over a span of two yearsAuthorities allege Sowell hid their remains in and around his Cleveland homeRead more about this story from CNN affiliate WKYC.

(CNN) -- The case against Anthony Sowell is grounded in his Cleveland backyard.

There, in October 2009, investigators unearthed remains of five of the 11 women -- ages 25 to 52 -- found on Sowell's property.

On Monday, jury selection for Sowell's trial begins in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Sowell faces 85 counts related to his alleged rape, murder and dismembering of the women between 2007 and 2009 -- charges to which he's pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Since the bodies were discovered, other women have come forward alleging that Sowell also attacked them. In April 2010, prosecutors handed down an 10-count indictment against Sowell in connection with the alleged rape of a 34-year-old woman in his Cleveland home.

Sowell's lawyers have declined previous requests by CNN to explain their case, and the suspect has not been interviewed. But in January 2010, attorney John Parker told The Plain Dealer newspaper in Cleveland that he felt police violated Sowell's Miranda rights as he was being interrogated.

But those likely to decide Sowell's future have already had their first opportunity to take a measure of the man.

About 200 prospective jurors were introduced to the accused serial killer Friday morning at the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court in Cleveland, county court administrator Greg Popovich said. They also met Judge Dick Ambrose, the presiding judge in the case, as well as the defense and prosecution teams.

Dressed in a polo shirt and khaki pants, and unencumbered by handcuffs or shackles (even though he was escorted by six deputies), Sowell addressed the jurors simply by saying, "Hello."

Popovich described the event as "unusual" but necessary to "ensure the integrity of the process in the interest of justice" -- though he didn't elaborate on how it did. Following the meeting, the potential jurors went through an hour-long orientation and then were asked to fill out a 32-page questionnaire.

Should they be tapped for the jury, they will sit through what Popovich estimates will be a six-to-eight week trial documenting the gruesome case against Sowell.

Sowell grew up in East Cleveland, joined the Marines at age 18 and traveled to California, North Carolina and Japan, authorities said. People who interacted with him after his 2005 release from prison, where he had served 15 years for attempted rape, said he appeared to be "a normal guy," known locally for selling scrap metal.

His inconspicuous two-story home sits in a dilapidated neighborhood known as Mount Pleasant, where one in five homes were in foreclosure and at least a third of residents got food stamps, according to a 2010 study by Case Western Reserve University's Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development.

Neighbors and even a city councilman had failed to realize that the stench wafting in the area around Sowell's home was human flesh, not a byproduct of a nearby sausage factory.

Moreover, the disappearance of the 11 women -- many of whom lived nearby -- went largely unnoticed for almost two years, with only four of them even being reported missing. Many of his alleged victims struggled with drug addiction at some point in their lives, with court records showing that many resorted to stealing and prostitution to support their habits.

In late 2008, Gladys Wade told police that a man in a gray hoodie offered her beer, and when she declined, punched her in the face several times. Wade said that he then tried to rape her, dragging her toward his home, adding that she got out only after "gouging his face."

Police investigated Wade's complaint, with one police report noting blood droplets on Sowell's walls and steps. But officers told CNN affiliate WKYC that the case was dropped after Wade declined to press charges.

After Wade's complaint, six more women would disappear.

Then, on September 23, 2009, a 36-year-old Cleveland woman told police a story eerily similar to those of Wade and the woman whose 1989 account led to Sowell's first conviction for attempted rape. She said he'd invited her into his home for beer, punched her in the face, then began performing oral sex on her -- releasing her only after she promised to return the next day.

Sowell was then arrested. More than a month later, police entered his house and found two bodies rotting in his attic. These were the first of the 11 bodies they'd eventually discover, in various states of decay, on his property.

Most of the women whose remains were found in and around Sowell's home were strangled by ligature -- which can include a string, cord or wire -- and at least one was strangled by hand, officials said. Seven still had ligatures wrapped around their necks. A skull is all that remains of one victim. It was found wrapped in a paper bag and stuffed in a bucket in the home's basement.

While the prosecution will press its case against Sowell in the coming weeks, this may not be the end of his story -- even if he is eventually given a death sentence.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason has said that his cold case unit is reviewing unsolved murders that occurred during the time Sowell lived in Cleveland and East Cleveland to see if there are any connections. Mason said the group is working its way through 75 cases.

InSession's Chris Perry and CNN's Stephanie Chen contributed to this report.

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Arrest after Russian journalist killing

Russian human rights activists attend a rally in honour of slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow on October 7, 2010.Anna Politkovskaya, a critic of the Kremlin, was killed in her apartment building in 2006Rustam Makhmudov will be taken to Moscow for questioningMakhmudov has been on the international wanted list since May 2008

Moscow (CNN) -- A suspect in the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 was arrested in Chechnya on Tuesday, Russia Investigative Committee told CNN.

Rustam Makhmudov was detained in Chechnya's Achkoi-Martan district, according to Russia's Interfax news agency. He will be transported to Moscow for questioning, the committee said.

The arrest was conducted by the Federal Security Service and Russia's Interior Ministry and was facilitated by law enforcement in Belgium where the suspect had been hiding earlier, the committee said.

A fierce critic of the Kremlin, Politkovskaya was found shot dead in her apartment building while she was working on a series of reports about Chechnya for Novaya Gazeta, an independent, Moscow-based newspaper.

Lawyer Murad Musayev told Interfax that videos and DNA tests will prove Makhmudov's innocence.

The slain journalist's lawyers were not impressed by the arrest.

"We do not consider the detention of the perpetrator of the crime to be a breakthrough because the investigators have long been suspecting Rustam Makhmudov of involvement in this crime. I can't thank the investigators for his arrest because it should have been done four years ago," lawyer A. Stavitskaya told Interfax.

Politkovskaya was shot dead in an elevator of her apartment bloc in Moscow on the afternoon of October 7, 2006, as she was going home.

Ibragim and Jabrail Makhmudov -- Rustam Makhmudov's brothers -- and two former law enforcement officers were suspects in the case.

A Moscow district court acquitted them in February 2009 because of lack of evidence.

The Russian Supreme Court repealed the acquittal and ordered the prosecution to re-investigate the case.

Investigators say they believe it was Rustam Makhmudov who pulled the trigger on Politkovskaya. He was on the run at the time of the killing for another crime he was charged with earlier. He has been on the international wanted list since May 2008.

CNN's Maxim Tkachenko contributed to this report.

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Durango's Killing Fields: The Grave in the Garden (Time.com)

Mexican soldiers found a seventh mass grave in Durango, Mexico, this week, and its location was as unexpected as the six before it. TIME was one of the first media at the scene on Thursday, May 19, as forensic officials descended on a white stucco house in the upscale Jardines de Durango neighborhood to unearth presumed drug-cartel victims buried in the garden. Like the other grisly fosas, or narco-graves, uncovered in this northern desert city since last month - many of which were in middle-class backyards or near schools - the latest raised an unsettling question: How could residents and authorities not know something was terribly amiss at the house on Calle Petunias? "That's the incredible part," says Jorge Santiago, spokesman for Durango State Human Rights Commission.

Just as staggering is the number of bodies recovered so far in the Durango fosas: 218, a figure sure to rise with the newest discovery, and which surpasses the 183 exhumed since last month in the border state of Tamaulipas. Like the Tamaulipas corpses, many of those found in Durango are believed to be innocents as well as mafiosos. Either way, the sheer volume has human rights advocates looking at Mexico's bloody drug war, which in four years has produced almost 40,000 gangland murders, through a more disturbing prism. To them it smacks of massacres witnessed in the Balkans in the 1990s, or Central America in the 1980s or South America in the 1970s - especially since corrupt Mexican police, like the 17 arrested for alleged involvement in the Tamaulipas slaughter, frequently take part. "It's purely demoniacal," says Javier Sicilia, a Mexican poet whose son, Juan Francisco Sicilia, 24, was murdered by narco-criminals this year. "It threatens our democracy." (Read about why Mexico's drug cartels are moving into human smuggling.)

But like the killing of Sicilia's son, the macabre fosas are also putting more human names and faces on the victims of Mexico's narco-carnage, including the thousands of missing persons. As bodies, many badly decomposed, were brought to refrigerated trailers behind the Durango state attorney general compound this week, hundreds of families braved the overpowering stench to come and take DNA tests, hoping to find out if any of the fosa dead are loved ones who violently disappeared months or years ago - either because they were involved in drug trafficking themselves, or because they were targeted for robbery, kidnapping and extortion amid turf battles between gangs like the powerful Sinaloa Cartel and the vicious army commandos-turned-narcos known as the Zetas.

Among those coming forward was Rosario LOpez, 34, a Durango hair stylist whose longtime boyfriend, Julio CEsar Rocha, 23, a car stereo technician, was snatched off the street seven months ago by suspected narcos - who, say witnesses, may also have been cops - in a black Ford Lobo truck. LOpez says local authorities have done little to investigate his disappearance. (More than 90% of Mexico's violent crimes go unsolved.) But after convincing his parents to offer DNA samples, she now waits to see if Rocha is one of those recently exhumed - to get closure but, just as important, to finally force a professional probe into his case. "It's a pain, a daily anguish you can't describe," says LOpez, who lived with Rocha and planned to marry him. "These criminals don't just take people, they take away whole futures." (See "Can Obama and Calderon Solve Mexico's Bloodshed [EM] and the Bad Blood?")

Residents like LOpez applaud the state and federal governments for giving them access to the DNA tests. But other families, many arriving at the attorney general's office from nearby states, were more circumspect - worried that narco spies were scattered around the compound listening to their conversations. Durango officials fear it too. "We don't know who's friend or enemy here anymore," one told TIME.

One hope, says Sicilia, who has turned his son's killing into a surprisingly broad civic protest movement against Mexico's violence, is that cases like Rocha's will help the world realize "that the dead aren't just figures and abstractions, narcos killing narcos, but potentially all of us." And that in turn may put pressure on Mexican leaders to get more serious about judicial and police reform - which is the country's only real solution to the narco-crisis, and which President Felipe CalderOn has pushed along with his gutsy but ill-conceived military campaign against the cartels - and on U.S. leaders to reduce the drug consumption and smuggled guns that play such a large role in the tragedy south of the border. (See pictures of Mexico's drug tunnels.)

CalderOn sent federal forensic aid to Durango this week to help state investigators, who human rights monitors had complained were ruining evidence at the fosas by using large backhoes to extract bodies. (CalderOn, however, didn't help his p.r. cause on Thursday when, during a visit to Las Vegas to promote Mexican tourism, he less than tactfully quipped that the "only shots" visitors to Mexico will face are "tequila shots.") As more decapitated bodies begin turning up in the city - including that of a local high-ranking prison official - the President has also sent in highly trained Marine units.

To symbolize the shared responsibility of the drug war, Sicilia's Hasta la Madre! (We've Had It!) movement supporters are planning a caravan next month from Mexico City to the violence-plagued border city of JuArez. There they hope a southbound American caravan will arrive across the Rio Grande at the U.S. border city of El Paso, Texas. It won't end Mexico's narco-violence, but it might wake more people up to the kind of human horror that Durango is now discovering in its gardens.

See pictures of a Mexican meth gang waging a drug war.

See the world's most influential people in the 2011 TIME 100.

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Justice Stevens says bin Laden killing legally justified

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens spoke of the bin Laden raid in remarks at Northwestern University."I must say I was very proud of the SEALs," retired Justice Stevens says"I haven't the slightest doubt it was entirely appropriate," he saysStevens has been unusually outspoken for a retired justice

Washington (CNN) -- Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has voiced support for the killing of al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces, saying it was legally justified.

In remarks Thursday evening at his alma mater, Northwestern University, the 91-year-old former justice said the order by President Barack Obama for the covert mission by U.S. Navy SEALs was "to remove an enemy who had been trying every day to attack the United States," according to two people who attended a symposium and dinner that was closed to the media.

Stevens said he was pleased the president took the risky decision to launch the May 2 commando assault on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. The justice added, "I must say I was very proud of the SEALs."

No sitting member of the Supreme Court has commented on the bin Laden killing and is not likely to, since current or related executive branch issues may someday come before them.

There have been legal questions surrounding whether U.S. and international law would permit a unilateral executive decision to kill a terrorist leader with no ties to any government. Attorney General Eric Holder said the day after the mission, "It's lawful to target an enemy commander in the field."

As founder and head of al Qaeda, bin Laden was viewed by the administration as a combatant actively involved in past and current hostilities against the United States and other countries.

The insistence by Obama officials that the killing was justified come despite bin Laden not being armed when commandos stormed his third-floor room. Those officials insist the Saudi native "resisted" and made no clear indication he would surrender.

Stevens said based on his knowledge of the facts, "I haven't the slightest doubt it was entirely appropriate for American forces to act" as they did. "It was not merely to do justice and avenge September 11."

The Wall Street Journal Law Blog first reported Stevens' remarks.

He stepped down from the high court last year after nearly 35 years on the bench, and was replaced by Justice Elena Kagan.

Unusually for a retired justice, he has been outspoken on current hot-button cases his former colleagues are considering and on other news events. He voiced support in November for a planned Islamic community center near the site of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, urging religious and ethnic tolerance.

He announced this week he has almost completed writing a memoir of sorts, a look at the five chief justices he has known and worked with over the past 64 years. Called the "Five Chiefs," and to be published by Little Brown this October, the book will also give an inside look at the court and Stevens' personal insights on colleagues past and present, including current Chief Justice John Roberts.

Before retiring, Stevens had been a consistent supporter of limited rights for terror suspects in U.S. custody overseas to challenge their detention in federal courts. In the first terrorism case to arise in the high court from the 9/11 attacks, Stevens said foreign-born terror suspects captured abroad and held at a Navy-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, did have some basic rights.

"What is presently at stake is only whether the federal courts have jurisdiction to determine the legality of the executive's potentially indefinite detention of individuals who claim to be wholly innocent of wrongdoing," he wrote in 2004.

Stevens is a World War II veteran. He served as an intelligence officer in Hawaii, where his work included supervising the cracking of secret Japanese codes. He was speaking in public Friday to graduates at his old law school in Chicago, where he graduated in 1947 at the top of his class.

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The killing of bin Laden: Was it legal?

(CNN) -- Was the killing of Osama bin Laden legal under international law?

The administration says yes, absolutely. Experts are unsure.

Attorney General Eric Holder told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that the U.S. raid on bin Laden's compound was lawful "as an act of national self-defense."

"He was the head of al Qaeda, an organization that had conducted the attacks of September the 11th," Holder said. "It's lawful to target an enemy commander in the field."

New details on bin Laden's death

The raid on Obama's compound "was conducted in a manner fully consistent with the laws of war," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters. Carney declined to offer specifics, but said "there is simply no question that this operation was lawful. ... (Bin Laden) had continued to plot attacks against the United States."

Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama had all issued orders to kill or capture the al Qaeda leader.

Bin Laden raid was years in the making

"The authority (during the raid) was to kill bin Laden," CIA Director Leon Panetta said Tuesday during an interview with PBS. "Obviously, under the rules of engagement, if he had in fact thrown up his hands, surrendered, and didn't appear to be representing any kind of threat, then they were to capture him. But they had full authority to kill him."

A number of experts have said the question of actual legality may come down to bin Laden's response at the moment U.S. Navy SEALs burst into his room.

"If a person has his hands in the air, you're not supposed to kill him," said Steven Groves, a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

U.S. officials have revised their account of what happened during the assault on the compound in Pakistan. Bin Laden was not armed during the 40-minute raid, they now say, but he put up resistance to U.S. forces.

The al Qaeda leader was moving at the time he was initially shot, according to a U.S. official who has seen military reports of the incident. The official declined to describe the movements more specifically.

Asked if bin Laden tried to grab a weapon or physically attack a commando, the official would say only that "he didn't hold up his hands and surrender."

Officials earlier claimed that bin Laden was an active participant in the firefight that erupted, implying that he was armed and gave the SEALs little choice but to shoot him.

Behind the scenes of the bin Laden raid

Groves, citing the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law, said that, based on the most recent White House account, "there is nothing to indicate anything illegal happened."

Bin Laden, considered a combatant by virtue of his position as head of al Qaeda, needed to immediately make clear a desire to surrender, if that was his decision, in order to avoid being shot. That apparently didn't happen, Groves said.

"The United States offered bin Laden the possibility to surrender, but he refused," Martin Scheinin, the United Nations' special rapporteur for human rights, said Tuesday. "Bin Laden would have avoided destruction if he had raised a white flag."

Geoffrey Robertson, a human rights lawyer who has defended WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange among others, made clear that international law requires any killing to be done in self-defense.

If members of the SEAL team "reasonably (believed there was) a risk to themselves, then the killing was justified," Robertson asserted. But given the changing White House account of the raid, "there needs to be an inquiry," he said.

Cherif Bassiouni, head of DePaul University's International Human Rights Law Institute and a former U.N. war crimes investigator, said that the "killing of any individual sought by law enforcement in the course of a lawful arrest is always a question of facts. Did the person resist? Did the person have a deadly weapon? Were the arresting officers in fear of their lives? These are all pertinent questions."

Bassiouni stressed that any "extrajudicial execution of an unarmed person is in violation of international law."

"It is necessary for the Navy to conduct an internal investigation into the appropriateness of the use of armed force," Bassiouni said. "However, it is also important not to make the Navy SEALs be the scapegoats for (any) secret orders which the public is unaware of to simply kill bin Laden no matter what."

Was the incursion of U.S. forces into Pakistani territory without the clear permission of Islamabad legal?

Bin Laden was an indicted international criminal who had evaded all attempts to apprehend him, Robertson said. As a consequence, the operation was legal, he asserted.

Groves argued the use of the SEALs does "present complications," though he noted that there has been a "kind of a wink and a nod game (the U.S. government has) been playing with the Pakistanis for years" in terms of predator drone strikes and other attacks against Islamic extremists on Pakistani soil.

Bassiouni argued that "the mission to capture was legal, even though there are some questions under international law about one state sending its forces into another state to kidnap a person wanted for trial."

The issue first arose in the early 1960s, Bassiouni noted, when notorious Nazi Adolf Eichmann was kidnapped by Israeli agents in Argentina and subsequently brought to Israel for trial.

Half a century later, that issue remains a matter of sharp dispute.

CNN's Richard Greene and Barbara Starr contributed to this report

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Bin Laden killing shows off agency cooperation

WASHINGTON — The U.S. intelligence community that was accused of failing to connect the dots before the 9/11 attacks in 2001 was lauded Monday for finding and finishing off its No. 1 target with pinpoint accuracy.

Navy SEALs, at sea aboard the USS Oscar Austin in a 2002 drill. A SEAL team completed the mission against Osama bin Laden.

By Michael W. Pendergrass, AP

Navy SEALs, at sea aboard the USS Oscar Austin in a 2002 drill. A SEAL team completed the mission against Osama bin Laden.

Though there were enough apparent heroes in the operation that led to Osama bin Laden's demise ? from two presidents to a team of daring Navy SEALs ? part of the credit went to an obscure law passed in 2004 and a decade's effort to coordinate the work of military and intelligence agencies that used to compete.

"I think this clearly demonstrates the new intelligence community after 9/11 and their ability to find and reach out anywhere in the world and take care of people who threaten the United States," said Rep Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

That's an about-face from some of the assessments given the nation's civilian and military intelligence capabilities in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and, two years later, the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq that intelligence officials said were there.

Those failures were blamed both on a "need-to-know" culture within the nation's intelligence structure that prevented information-sharing and the absence of laws requiring cooperation. "That culture had to change," says Lee Hamilton, who co-chaired the 9/11 Commission that recommended scores of changes in 2004.

After the panel's scathing report and passage of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, Hamilton says, "it was forced ? it was required ? that they share information."

The law created the office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Counterterrorism Center and set up a joint command structure across 16 agencies. It's been a work in progress since then, but "this is real evidence that, though imperfect, the law worked," says Jane Harman, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee at the time and now director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

The intertwined relationship between the U.S. military and intelligence community may have been on display last week when President Obama nominated CIA Director Leon Panetta as his next Defense secretary and Afghanistan commander Gen. David Petraeus his next CIA director. But there's nothing like an actual joint operation to turn words into action.

So when Navy SEALs acted upon intelligence community leads to kill bin Laden and escape by helicopter with his body, it completed a turnaround from the post-9/11 days.

By Monday, intelligence officials were participating by telephone in the Pentagon's initial briefing on bin Laden's capture and killing, and members of Congress were singing their praises.

"From everything we can determine, every element of our government ? military, intelligence, homeland security ? worked together as a team," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, I- Conn., who was the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee after the 9/11 attacks.

The operation even silenced criticism that it took too long to find the al-Qaeda leader and 9/11 plotter, who had nearly been captured in 2001 in the mountainous region of Afghanistan near Tora Bora.

"I think you've got to hand it to bin Laden," says Lawrence Korb, a former Pentagon assistant secretary in the Reagan administration. "Everybody assumed he was in a cave near the border. He was basically hiding in plain sight."

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Obama hails bin Laden killing amid warnings of retaliation

WASHINGTON — President Obama hailed the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden as a moment of national pride Monday, even as his administration prepared for possible retaliation and repercussions.

Elijah Stevens, center, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, visits Ground Zero with his daughter Caitlin, left, and wife, Stephanie, to show their support for the U.S. military and celebrate Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's death on Monday.

By John Minchillo, AP

Elijah Stevens, center, of Poughkeepsie, N.Y, visits Ground Zero with his daughter Caitlin, left, and wife, Stephanie, to show their support for the U.S. military and celebrate Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's death on Monday.

Obama told a bipartisan gathering of lawmakers at the White House that the pride inspired by bin Laden's demise is "far deeper than party, far deeper than politics." He said he hopes to "harness some of that unity and some of that pride to confront the many challenges that we still face." Obama will go Thursday to Ground Zero in New York City.

As the nation awoke to the news that had eluded Republican and Democratic administrations for nearly 10 years, issues emerged about the future of bin Laden's terrorist network, the war in Afghanistan and the U.S. relationship with Pakistan, where he was hiding ? possibly for years.

And as details emerged about the operation carried out Sunday night by an elite team of Navy SEALs halfway around the world, questions were raised about some of the tactical decisions ? most notably burying bin Laden at sea. Counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said that was done as a matter of practicality and to comply with Islamic law, which says burial should occur within 24 hours of death.

None of the questions diminished the combined sense of joy and relief that followed the announcement of bin Laden's death. "The American psyche has been given a huge boost," said Lee Hamilton, former co-chair of the 9/11 Commission that led to changes in the nation's intelligence and homeland security operations.

Amid celebrations, law enforcement agencies boosted security in key cities and transportation hubs. No specific threat emerged, and travel flowed without incident, but homeland security officials put local authorities on notice that the killing could spark reprisals.

"Though bin Laden is dead, al-Qaeda is not," CIA Director Leon Panetta said in a message to the spy agency's employees. "The terrorists almost certainly will attempt to avenge him."

Details of the 40-minute raid emerged from White House and Pentagon briefings: Bin Laden was shot in the face. Four others were killed, including a woman at first thought to be his wife. As Pakistani military aircraft mobilized, a U.S. helicopter had to be destroyed before the SEALs made their getaway.

All the while, Obama and top administration officials monitored events in the Situation Room. Brennan called it "one of the most gutsiest calls of any president in recent memory."

As allies across the globe applauded bin Laden's death, officials were faced with possible repercussions:

•Has al-Qaeda been incapacitated? Not yet, said White House officials and lawmakers from both parties. But bin Laden's death was seen as a symbolic and strategic blow likely to create chaos within the group and its affiliates.

•Is Pakistan friend or foe? Bin Laden's ability to hide in a leafy Islamabad suburb cast doubt on whether the nuclear power had protected him.

Contributing: Alan Levin, Mimi Hall and Jim Michaels

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Youth arrested in killing of 2 British men

James Kouzaris, left, and James Cooper, right, were found shot dead in Sarasota, Florida, early Sunday morning. STORY HIGHLIGHTSBoy is held in the murder of two British menShooting occurred in a residential area on a one-way streetAuthorities are trying to determine why British men were there (CNN) -- A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in the murder of two British men, found shot dead at 3 a.m. Saturday in Sarasota, Florida, police say.

Sarasota Police have identified the victims as James M. Cooper, 25, and James Thomas Kouzaris, 24, both from England.

The juvenile, whose name has not been released, was arrested 24 hours after the murders at 3 a.m. Sunday. Where he was arrested was not disclosed.

Police were alerted to the incident by a 911 caller who said "a person was lying on the ground covered in blood" at the scene.

Sarasota Police Capt. Paul Sutton said the deaths were classified as homicides and that police are working out the details of the case.

The area where the shootings occurred is residential, on a one-way street with no commercial businesses, Sutton said.

"We are working out why they were there," he said, declining to comment why the Englishmen were in the area at such an early hour.

"Right now, we're still continuing the investigation," Sutton said.

No further details were available.

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Cops sentenced in post-Katrina killing

Greg McRae was guilty of using a fire to commit a felony -- specifically, burning this car with Henry Glover's body inside. STORY HIGHLIGHTSFormer Officer David Warren gets more than 25 yearsOfficer Greg McRae is sentenced to more than 17 years31-year-old Henry Glover was killedRELATED TOPICSNew Orleans Police DepartmentMurder and HomicideHurricane KatrinaNew Orleans (CNN) -- Two New Orleans police officers convicted last year in the killing of a man during the chaos following Hurricane Katrina were sentenced Thursday in federal court.

Former Officer David Warren got more than 25 years in prison, and current Officer Greg McRae was sentenced to more than 17 years, the Justice Department said.

A jury in December found Warren guilty of manslaughter for killing Henry Glover, 31, on September 2, 2005.

He was also found guilty of deprivation of rights under color of law -- a charge that relates to abusing one's status as a police officer while breaking the law.

Prosecutors contended that Warren fired at Glover from the police station's balcony after he allegedly saw Glover heading toward the station with something in his hand.

After Glover was shot, bystanders drove him to a nearby school looking for help. Instead, the men were allegedly beaten by police officers at the school, who then left the school with a car that had Glover's body in it.

McRae had been found guilty of using a fire to commit a felony -- specifically, burning the Chevrolet Malibu with Glover's body inside. McRae burned the car near the police station where Glover was shot, prosecutors said.

The jury also convicted him on three counts of deprivation of rights under the color of the law and found him not guilty on one such count.

Earlier this month, a federal investigation found that the New Orleans Police Department has engaged in patterns of misconduct in violation of the Constitution and federal law, the Justice Department announced.

Among the findings are that the police department has used excessive force, made unconstitutional stops and searches, and illegally profiled people based on race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. The investigation also found a number of practices that contributed to the illegal conduct, including failed systems for recruiting and promoting officers, poor training and lack of supervision, among others.

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